Teeeitoet



(No Model.)

P. SOHWATKA.

FOLDING SKELETON GUN STOCK.

N0. 305 537. Patented Sept. 23, 1884.

WITNESSES INVENTOR W (,(QM W gag/6% BY Jul ATTORNEYS.

. -UNIT STATE PATENT OFFICE FREDERICK SOHWATKA, OF VANCOUVER BARRAOKS, \VASHINGTON 'IERRITOBY.

FOLDING SKELETON GUN-STOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO./305,537, dated September 23, 1884'.

Application filed February 521, 1884. (No model.)

To all wh01n it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK SOHWATKA, of Vancouver Barracksdn the county of Clarke and Territory of Washington, have invented a new and Improved Folding Skeleton Guns Stock, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention consists in a skeleton folding gun-stock or gun-stock extension pivoted to swing upon a smaller stock of a gun or pistol as, for instance, on the grip part of the pistoland arranged so that when closed it fits underneath thestock or body part of the gun, thus securing great compactness, and providing for a large extension of the gun-stock.

It also consists in a spiral articulated construction of said skeleton folding gun-stock, and in a cou1bination,with said stock, of fast enings for securing the same when closed and when extended.

Said invention essentially differs from a gun or pistol stock in which a solid butt portion is hinged to the frame of theweapon in rear of its barrel, also from a pistol provided with a stick-like or solid extension stock arranged to slide through or upon the handle of the pistol.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the figures.

Figure 1 represents a side View of a fire-arm having my invention applied, and showing, by full and dotted lines, respectively, the folding stock as extended and as closed. Fig. 2 is a transverse section through the smaller or fixed stock of the arm with means for the adj ustment and securing of the upper part of the folding stock.

A is the grip of the pistol or firearm, and B O D D bars of which the folding skeleton stock is composed. The bar B, which occupies the lowermost portion when the stock is extended, is hinged or pivoted, as at a, to the back part of the grip of the pistol, and the upper bar, 0, is jointed at its inner end, a, to

a slide, 1), fitted to work within a longitudinal slot, 0, in the tang d of the pistol-grip, and provided with a thumb-screw or snap or other fastening, e, to hold said bar in position when extended. Asimilar or other suitable fastening, as at f, is provided for holding the fold ing stock when closed. The bars or plates D D, which form the butt of the extending and folding stock, are pivoted to each other, as at g, and ath h to the outer ends of the bars B U. The shape ofthese several bars will vary with the shape of the smaller fixed stock or portion of the arm they are designedto fold against, or style of the fire-arm to which the folding skeleton stock is applied. In closing the folding stock, the slide 1) moves from the position shown for it by full lines in Fig. 1 to that oc cupied by it in dotted lines, same figure, and when the skeleton stock is folded it assumes the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. The bars B O are of such waved configuration as that,when the skeleton stock is folded, they will close one into the other and hug the lower side of the fixed or smaller stock of the gun,

, and the butt-bars D D fold within them. The

bars B 0, when the folding stock is extended from a to h and from a to 71, connected by the butt plates or bars jointed, as at g, correspond,

varying, however, in shape with the style of gun. The nearer the portion of the gun from a to f approaches a straight line the nearer will the bars B O approach a straight configuration. The butt plate or plates D D, hinged together, as at fold inward or backward against the inner sides of the outer portions of the bars B O, as the extended folding stock is swung around on the pivot a to close or fold it. If said platesD D,which should be of the same shape, or nearly so, as the portions of the bars B 0 against which they fit when closed, are not made arched inward or hollow, then said portions of the bars B 0 should be made so, and a corresponding alteration from f to the left he made in the under side of the thimblestock.

When the stock is extended ready for use, its waved configuration will bring certain parts of the upper and lower bars B 0 near each other, and at these points struts or braces G G, hinged to one bar and snapping into the other, may be used to strengthen the skeleton stock and give it a truss-like construction. These hinged struts should have the same configu "ration, or thereabout, as the portions of the bars BC against which they close when released. 7

At either one of the two joints or portions h h is a ring, 2', large enough to insert the forefinger, to facilitate the folding and extending of the stock. To fold the stock; the fastening e is released,which admits of the slide 12 working down within or along the groove 0 for the stock to swing upon the hinge or pivot a, and after the stock has been folded, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, it is secured by the fastening f.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. Afoldingskeleton gun-stock or gun-stock extension pivoted to swing upon a smaller stock or body part of the gun, and arranged to fold beneath thesalne, substantially as specified.

2. The articulated folding skeleton gunstock in pivoted and jointed and sliding connection with a smallerstock or body part of the gun,

l and arranged for operation in relation therewith essentially 'as described.

3. In a folding skeleton gun-stock, the combination of the waved or irregular-shaped bars B O, the jointed butt-plates D D, the fixed pivot a, and slide 1), with its pivot a and the fastenings ef, all arranged for operation in relation with each other and the smaller stock or body part of the gun, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

4. In an articulated folding skeleton gunstock, arranged for operation as described, the combination,with the bars B O, of one or more pivoted struts or braces, G, essentially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

, FREDERICK SOHW'ATKA.

Witnesses: A. S. KIMBALL, GHARLEs F. WEST. 

